When Alvin Lustig arrived at Black Mountain in 1945, he had already made a name for himself as a designer at New Directions publishing, where he designed covers and jackets for books by Henry Miller, Ezra Pound, Dylan Thomas and many others. Lustig had been given free reign at New Directions to develop his own visual language and his modernist designs helped propel the publishing house to great financial success.
Lustig came at the invitation of Joseph Albers to teach at the Black Mountain College Summer Institute and his course drew on Albers’ theories in solving design problems. The course discussed typography, engraving and printing processes. While Lustig valued the importance of technical skill in good design, his course focused more on developing student’s critical and creative potentials. In an essay published years later, Lustig said, “I don’t really believe in arts education; that’s the reason I’m willing to try it out in various ways.”